SEATTLE – Deborah Senn, favored to win the Democratic nomination for attorney general, was waiting Tuesday night to see whether she could withstand a withering ad campaign sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Her opponent in the primary was former Seattle City Attorney Mark Sidran, while on the Republican side, King County Councilman Rob McKenna beat Seattle lawyer Mike Vaska for the GOP nomination.
Senn was leading Sidran, but Results in King County, where Sidran is best known, were slow in coming.
“We are cautiously optimistic,” Senn said. “The trend is good.”
Beginning late in August, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $1.5 million on an advertising campaign that attacked Senn’s record as state insurance commissioner, a position she held from 1993 to 2001. The group that aired the ads, the Voters Education Committee, initially refused to disclose who was funding them, but relented after the state went to court.
Senn’s advantage in the race stemmed largely from her name recognition. Besides winning two statewide campaigns for insurance commissioner, she also ran against Maria Cantwell for the Democratic Senate nomination in 2000, though she was badly beaten.
The current attorney general, Christine Gregoire, won the Democratic nomination for governor in Tuesday’s election.
During the campaign, Sidran touted himself as the only candidate for either party with experience running a large public law firm and advising government officials on legal matters. He proposed doubling the size of the consumer protection division, creating an assistance unit for victims of identity theft and focusing on white-collar crime, in addition to helping prevent lawsuits against the state.
The latter issue was also a top one cited by the Republican candidates.
Among his priorities, McKenna listed bringing police officers and prosecutors together to combat methamphetamine use, pressing for tougher sentences for crimes such as auto theft, supporting law enforcement interests in Olympia and directing more resources to fighting identity theft and Internet fraud.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.